SMD's Post Game Thoughts (Preseason Week3)

needs to go back to basic hands drills. Separation and Routes are there, and clean…but no one else could catch tonight. Its 1 pre-season game, got it, but I felt the same way at the end of week 2…Cutler putting balls in good spots, and guys just not making plays.

and had a chance to get it and didn’t…thats what happened

looked really sloppy out there tonight. Not sure if he’s just playing it safe to not get hurt or what. Needs to work on his hand-eye coordination a little

But other than that, a good showing by our offense tonight

Good luck with the “Roy Williams is the best receiver on our team and the rest of us our wrong rant” after the no show AGAIN. Okoye did look solid. I don’t get the doubters but they seem to be mainly the coaches. Chet and Major both seemed to suck as did Hanie. But you are/were flat out wrong about your man (god, I hate the boy shit) Roy. How does the crow taste this year?

Maybe he is coasting because it is preseason but he can’t get off a block and if the d line didn’t make a tackle then the guy was into the secondary.

1. I agree, surprisingly.

2. Makes you wonder about the reports that said Taylor will make the team, doesn’t it?

3. I think the real key here is the missing AA and LB. I’ve said it over and over, AA is the most under-rated DT in the league because he doesn’t get those flashy sacks, but he’s the reason the Bears gave up the fewest line yards between the guards last year.

4. thought the same thing. I wasn’t impressed, but one game doesn’t make a player. He;d better step it up soon, though.

5. In pass rushing situations, I agree. Against the run, not so much.

6. I was completely disappointed in ’Lach’s coverage. He really dipped in his coverage skills last year, and I see no signs of him jumping back to normal so far. That’s not to say that he’s horrible in coverage now, but he isn’t the same guy he was even in 2008.

7. I thought it was odd that Roy got all the blame for that, too. Though, in the end, he should have held on to the damned ball. If he had, we’d all have been talking about Cutler squeezing the ball in like a master.

8. I like Earl better in the slot against lesser coverage guys. I think it makes the best use of his abilities.

9. I’ll believe that Sanzen bacher isnt the next Brandon Rideau/Mike Haas/Eric Peterman when he actually makes the team. Until then, I don’t assume any UDFA rookie WR will in any year.

10. Agreed. STs have been uncharacteristically bad all the way around. Makes you wonder if the loss of Davis, Wolfe and Manning is affecting this unit.

Everyone is jumping up and down about Bennett in the preseason. Does everyone also realize that the preseason receiving leaders from the last 7 years didn’t make the team?

I like Bennett a lot. But he’s playing out of the slot, not facing the top corner from the X position. Can we be real about what he’s doing for just a second? He’s making the tough catches across the middle and doing it like there is no tomorrow. But, again, he’s not facing the top corners. He’s facing nickles and safeties, for the most part. Again, I like Bennett (probably more than any other receiver on the roster) but he’s an ideal slot the way he is playing. There is nothing saying that he gets that type of production at the X or Y position.

Williams isn’t exactly looking good. But then, it’s the preseason. He’s been targeted 7 times. It’s not like he’s making great use of those targets though either. But then, he also has to build timing with Cutler and learn Cutler’s throwing speed, which I don’t believe he’s used to yet. He seems to be clasping his hands late.

Which brings up another point. Drops. A drop is recorded officially when a pleyr stops the forward progress (stops, not slows) of a reasonably catchable pass but fails to hold on to the ball. If a pass sails through Roy Williams hands and bounces of his helmet, it is not a recordable drop. If he tips a ball, it is also not a recordable drop. If people are going to keep assessing them as such, then they need to go back and assess those drops officially to all players, not just Williams. Otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges unfairly and inaccurately.

None the less, Williams has been uninspiring so far.It may be just the preseason, but you would think that a new player on a team he joined in an attempt to redeem himself would want to start out on fire, not lolligag around like it doesn’t matter, preseason or not. Williams needs to get over himself and quit acting like he has nothing to prove. He must prove everything after disappointing for years now.

On to Knox. Johnny has done absolutely nothing to get his starting spot back. In fact, I think he’s done more to prove he doesn’t belong in the X or Y spots. “But, He works so hard!” And? So did Davis, and yet every year the majority of Fans wanted him gone. He was a starter at one point too and was demoted for dropping fewer passes than Knox and without leading the league INT targets. Yet nobody was up in arms when the Bears didn’t resign him. Nobody was shaking their fists at his demotion. Yet he was a hard worked and according to Hester and Knox, a good veteran leader who wore his Bears pride on his sleeve (or head, whichever). Knox is really fast. Yea for him. But until he can prove that he can run a route, create separation and hold onto the ball consistently, he has no place starting for any team.

As far as Hester goes, He better start showing something too. He’s getting seperation and he’s running pretty good routes, but his reception attempts remind me a lot of some of his early muffs. Like he’s trying to take off before he has the ball by the handle.He fixed that in the return game, can he fix it in the receiving game? Can he slow himslef down when the footsteps are closer than they are in the punt return and kick return game? God, I hope so.

So far the only receiver on the team that I am honestly impressed with is Bennett, and I hope he gets some starting reps in week 4 against first team opposition. I think the Bears need to know if he can perform as well against the starting corners as he does against the lesser coverage backs. Everyone keep talking about his speed, but he’s faster and plays faster than Jerry Rice ever did (Rice ran 4.7 at the NFL combine, though he handled pads better than most receivers and loss less speed from them). I’m certainly not saying that he is Jerry Rice, but what I am saying is that Rice is evidence that speed is only one part of the game. Bennett will never be Rice, but he certainly can use the skills he has to overcome his less than ideal speed.